Hina was one of the great ancestral goddesses of Hawaii and is most revered for the sacred story of her journey into the Moon. The tale goes that Hina left the heavens and took on a human husband because she loved the Hawaiian Islands which were known as the "Ring of Fire" due to all the volcanic activity. Hina had many children and spent many happy years on Earth. But then, her husband began to get increasingly hateful and demanding of her...and she began to realize that not even her children did anything to help her. Hina was left to take care of everything...including supporting the family by making and selling the most beautiful tapas (decorative cloth).

Eventually, Hina could take no more from her worthless family and made the decision to leave. Now, it is told, that Hina possessed the ability to cast a rainbow at her will and that she alone had the ability to walk on them. So, she cast a rainbow and began to climb back home, to the heavens...but, alas, the further she walked, the hotter the Sun became, and she had left home without any provisions...and when her thirst became so great that she couldn't bear it anymore, she was forced to return to her Earthly abode.

She was exhausted when she arrived and found no welcome from her family. Her husband beat her unmercifully because she had not prepared his dinner while her sons stood there hurling insults at the goddess. Defeated, she dragged herself into the bedroom and collapsed onto her bed...but not before she packed herself a bag.

The next morning she arose long before the Sun rose, retrieved her bag, filled a water skin, and quietly exited the house. Her husband, sensing something was amiss, awoke, and chased after her, quickly catching up. Hina cast a rainbow at the first object she saw in the night sky; it was the setting Moon on the western horizon. She struggled to step up onto the rainbow, but pushed herself, knowing that her husband would catch her in a moment.

At the point, the Gods saw the danger that Hina was facing and moved the Moon closer to Her. Now Hina realized that she was receiving assistance from above and breathed a sigh of relief....knowing that now her husband could not catch her; he could not climb the rainbow. But, just when she thought she was safe, she lost her footing, fell, and began sliding back down the rainbow. Her husband caught her foot and began pulling on her.

Hina, in a desperate attempt to survive, flipped over on her back and kicked her husband in the face...and then she cast a thunder clap which was so long and loud that her husband had no choice but to let her go so he could cover his ears. Once free of his grasp, Hina regained her footing and eventually made it to the Moon safely. Once there, she began to forget about her dreadful earth family as she sat up a new, happier home for herself, continuing to make her beautiful tapas which always gave her such joy. And from time to time, she would send thunder and lightening down to the Earth...for her own amusement.

And that, my friends, is how the Moon became female. The people of the Islands call her "The Woman in the Moon" and say that when it rains, it is because Hina is spreading Joy and Happiness; when it storms, she is reliving the morning she escaped from her husband and family.